“…human beings are rough drafts that continually mistake themselves for the final story, then gasp as the plot changes on the page of living. We do this largely because we are captives of comfort in our habits of thought and feeling, victims of certainty — that supreme narrowing of the mind — when it comes to our own desires. That we don’t fully know what we want because we are half-opaque to ourselves, that something we didn’t think we wanted may end up enlarging our lives in unimaginable ways, is a kind of uncertainty that unravels us. But if we can bear the frustration of the figuring, we may live into a larger and more authentic life.
Maria Popova, “On Giving Up”, Marginalia
How often haven’t I had other people’s favourite drawing or painting be the one I liked the least? And vice versa. Once I get past being miffed (or is it disappointed, or frustrated?) I try to figure out why in the hope that I can close the gap.
That hasn’t happened, yet. Maybe it can’t.
I still love “Mill Pond Reflections” (below), now hanging in my guest bedroom where I get to enjoy it and the iridescence that is revealed in low morning light.
